NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that is the end of it. If photographed, it may still live and its educational 



and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



DO GROUSE DRINK? 



Mr. Rice's interesting article in Recrea- 

 tion calls to my mind many pleasant hours 



1 have spent in the woods of New York 

 and Pennsylvania trying to discover how 

 grouse drink. 



One warm August afternoon in 1875 I 

 was sitting beside a little spring run in a 

 piece of second growth timber. Presently 



2 cocks and a hen grouse with her brood 

 of 7 chicks stole out from cover. They 

 wandered along the little stream, frequently 

 crossing and recrossing it in plain view. 

 I have always been interested in noting the 

 habits of these birds, and the fact of their 

 being so near the cool water caused 

 me to watch them. They remained within 

 sight more than an hour, and not one of 

 them drank during that time. Since then 

 I have had many chances to observe grouse 

 closely, and have yet to see one drink* from 

 a brook or pool. I have, however, seen 

 them pick at dew and rain drops on small 

 twigs, ferns and leaves. 



I fear I was something of a pot hunter 

 in my youth, but have outgrown that, and 

 have shot only one grouse in the last 25 

 years. Most of my leisure for 20 years has 

 been spent in the woods and fields, study- 

 ing nature to the best of my ability. I 

 could give many facts that would, I think, 

 be of interest to the lover of birds at 

 least. 



W. J. W., Wellsville, N. Y. 



I notice .in the October number of 

 Recreation an article headed, "Do Grouse 

 Drink?" by A. F. Rice. Many old sports- 

 men will say, "Of course they do; because 

 don't they always follow streams in dry 

 weather?" But how few, if any, can say 

 they have ever seen a grouse drink? I 

 have never but once seen any of the grouse 

 family in captivity. That was a young 

 prairie chicken, or pinnated grouse, caught 

 when only about a week old. For a few 

 days it looked as if it would 'die. It would 

 not drink. Finally one day during a rain 

 storm the grouse was noticed catching 

 •drops of water that were dripping in its 

 cage. Acting on that theory, a small bunch 

 of green grass was tied in one corner of the 

 cage, a little water poured into it and al- 

 lowed to follow down through and drip 

 from the ends of the grass, when presto ! 

 the grouse had a drink. After that, as long 

 as he lived, he drank in no other way. 

 This may not be the only way a grouse will 

 take water, but I am inclined to think it 

 the natural way, and only in dry weather 



or when lacking dew would they drink any 

 other way. 



M. H. Douglas, Abbotsford, Wis. 



In November Recreation Mr. Rice asks 

 whether grouse drink in the manner of 

 other fowls, giving his reasons for think- 

 ing they do not ; but in the case he men- 

 tions he does not name the species of 

 grouse referred to, on which, in my opin- 

 ion, the whole case turns. Possibly the 

 following from "Wilson's American Orni- 

 thology," Vol. I., pages 402-3, may be of 

 interest to him : "A person living near 

 Nashville caught an old hen pinnated 

 grouse and kept her in a large cage. He 

 remarked that she never drank, and even 

 avoided the part of the cage where the 

 water pan stood. Happening one day to 

 let some water fall on the cage, it trickled 

 down the bars in drops, which the bird no 

 sooner observed than she eagerly picked 

 them off drop by drop with a dexterity that 

 showed she had been habituated to this 

 mode of quenching her thirst." In the case 

 of pinnated grouse this peculiar way of 

 •drinking is not so remarkable as it appears 

 at first sight, since on the natural range of 

 •the species there is little water to be found 

 except raindrops and dew. 



E. P. Venable, Vernon, B. C 



Mr. Rice asks whether grouse drink like 

 domestic fowls. They do ; in some in- 

 stances, at least. Last fall my brother 

 caught a pinnated grouse. During the 3 

 weeks it lived in captivity we had every 

 opportunity for observing its habits. We 

 clipped one wing and let the bird have the 

 range of the house. It never seemed in the 

 least afraid, and if disturbed would scold 

 and fly at the offender. When interested 

 or startled it would cackle much as hens 

 do, though not so loudly. It ate wheat 

 and bread crumbs and drank water exactly 

 as a hen would. It was finally given the 

 liberty of the yard, where its first act was 

 to drink from a puddle. While on parole, 

 as it were, the poor bird was killed by a 

 cat. L. A. R., Hawley, Minn. 



Some years ago our dog killed a grouse 

 on her nest. My father took the 11 eggs 

 which the nest contained and put them 

 under a bantam hen. All hatched on the 

 23d day, and the chicks were running about 

 within an hour after leaving the shell. 

 They would pick food from a dish or from 

 the ground, but would not drink water 

 from a pan. They were noticed picking 

 drops of water off the grass where it had 



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